Man ordered to take down a 'birdcage' that he built around his home on top of an apartment block

  • Built by nature lover Feng Lin, the 'cage' includes a giant hook and perch
  • Authorities have ordered it to be demolished after residents complained
  • Neighbours said rocks were falling from the structure on the fourth storey

By Alex Ward

Published: 10:35 EST, 2 September 2013 | Updated: 11:29 EST, 2 September 2013

A giant ‘birdcage’ built on top of an apartment block has been ordered to be pulled down.

The structure, which includes a giant hook, perch and a fake rock wall, wraps around the fourth storey of the building in the Chinese city of Guangzhou.

Built by nature lover Feng Lin, the odd construction has caused outcry from city officials and residents alike.

The giant 'birdcage' structure built on the fourth storey of an apartment building has been ordered to be pulled down for breaching building permits and causing an outcry from residents

Birdcage banished: The giant 'birdcage' structure built on the fourth storey of an apartment building has been ordered to be pulled down for breaching building permits and causing an outcry from residents

Local officials in the Bantang district have ordered it to be demolished because the structure breached the building’s authorised height of three storeys and residents had complained of falling stones according to reports media.

Mr Lin said: ‘I love animals, birds and nature and I was looking for a way of showing it.

‘I got the idea of the cage into my head and I wanted to make it as authentic as possible. It even has perches.’

Nature lover Feng Lin has been ordered to demolish the strange structure which includes a giant hook, perch and a fake rock wall

Fly away home: Nature lover Feng Lin has been ordered to demolish the strange structure which includes a giant hook, perch and a fake rock wall

Giant birdcage
Giant birdcage

For the love of birds: Mr Lin said he loved birds and nature so much that he wanted to 'make it as authentic as possible' but neighbours complained that the birdcage was an eyesore and have begged him to take it down

According to media reports, the structure breached the building's authorised height of three storeys and residents complained of falling rocks

Bye bye birdy: According to media reports, the structure breached the building's authorised height of three storeys and residents complained of falling rocks

One neighbour said: ‘We've begged him to take it down. It is an eyesore. He'll have a giant bell, a mirror and a ladder in there next.’

The owner of the ground floor teahouse said that the enclosure had been built by the landlord according to the Nanfang Daily newspaper.

In China, keeping birds is a popular hobby especially among the older population.

The ruling comes as other similar rooftop structures sparked a public outcry.

In Beijing, eccentric Professor Zhang Lin spent six years building his dream mountaintop villa - on top of a 26-storey Beijing apartment block.

He shifted tons of rubble and rock onto the roof of the building to construct the outrageous home which looks like it has been carved from a mountainside.

Strange structures: Other odd structures have been seen in China including this 'mountaintop' penthouse which took Professor Zhang Lin six years to build, shifting rocks and rubble to the roof of this 26-storey building

Strange structures: Other odd structures have been seen in China including this 'mountaintop' penthouse which took Professor Zhang Lin six years to build, shifting rocks and rubble to the roof of this 26-storey building

The property even has a rocky mountain garden, complete with rubble and shrubbery. 

The rooftop home, which never received planning approval, has caused cracks to appear in his neighbours' ceilings and walls while some have had to put up with leaks from broken pipes and drains.

They have also been forced to live with the noise and disturbance caused from the building work. 

One resident said their apartment is constantly flooded while another described the academic as a 'menace'.

'This was originally a small attic when he bought it. But he tore that down and built this mountain on top of us,' said one.

The rooftop home has never received planning approval and has caused cracks to appear in neighbours' ceilings and walls while others have had to put up with leaks from broken pipes and drains

Sky high structure: The rooftop home has never received planning approval and has caused cracks to appear in neighbours' ceilings and walls while others have had to put up with leaks from broken pipes and drains

'He's broken drains so we're always being flooded when it rains and there are huge structural cracks in our ceiling and walls,' they added.

Also on a rooftop in Guangdong province, a temple on top of a 21-storey apartment block caused a mixture of reactions.

The authorities' decision came after a series of rooftop structures provoked reactions from humour to anger in China, among them a temple on top of a 21-storey apartment block elsewhere in Guangdong province.